1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of telephony, and particularly to a system and method for making outgoing calls at reduced cost that provides for switching between wireless and wired telephone transmissions in order to reduce service costs to the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of cellular phones has been expanding at an exponential rate and has grown to the extent that more and more businessmen, and even school children, carry a cellular phone and use them extensively. However, it is also true that in some businesses, the cost of cellular phone use is a growing concern, and efforts are being made to reduce such costs.
The existence of “charge lines” and “non-charge lines” is well known and has been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,258, issued to Tsumura et al. As disclosed therein, an information input/output controller for telephone lines converts information input from either a charge line or a non-charge line to data form, and then stores it in a memory device along with identification data specifying the type of line on which the information was received. It also reads information from the memory device in response to information read requests received by way either of a charge line or of a non-charge line, and when called upon to output the information either to a charge line or to a non-line, it inhibits the output of the information to a non-charge line in cases where the line indicated by the aforementioned identification data on the line and the line on which the information read request, if received, are both non-charge lines. This enables either the sending party or the receiving party of a service, but not both, to be charged for the service, while at the same time ensuring that, if the sending party and the receiving party of the service both use a non-charge line, the output of the information will be inhibited in order to preserve the integrity of the charging function. Moreover, if the line indicated by the identification data and the line on which the read request is received are both charge lines, a message is sent to the issuer of the read request to indicate the availability of a non-charge line. This prevents the sending party and the receiving party of the same service from being charged for the service.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,330, issued to of Buffered et al., discloses a method and apparatus for tracking and transmitting communication information for wireless communication systems. As disclosed, a communication accounting system is provided wherein the transfer of call detail record information from a remotely located phone may be accomplished in an efficient manner. During non-billable processes or during airtime billed at a reduced rate, the call detail record (CDR) information from the previous registration is simultaneously sent to the collector system for processing to the billing system. More specifically, encrypted and compressed authorization information and call details records (CDRs) from the previous use of the phone are simultaneously communicated from the Cellular Call Computer—Programmable Off-line (C3PO) to the host computer system by modem or other suitable manner. At the validation server, the authorization information is decrypted and uncompressed and stripped away from the CDRs while the call is live, and sent to an authorization service. While the validation system is working on completing the authorization, the system is uploading the CDRs from calls made since the last authorization attempt. These CDRs are stored for later processing. The invention also provides a roaming management system integrated with the accounting system. By the method, disclosed equipment is efficiently utilized, internal airtime charges are minimized, and customers are billed in a timely manner.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 7,406,307, issued to Manto, discloses a system and method for providing interoperable and on-demand telecommunications service. The system relates in general to the field of voice and data communications, and in particular, to a novel system for providing interoperable on-demand communications and services across otherwise incompatible narrowband voice and broadband systems. The system is also based on sponsored or universal communications services supported by interactive communications between sponsors and service providers and their respective databases of business rules.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 7,613,471, issued to Lee et al., discloses a method of providing SMS callback. The patent discloses a method of connecting two or more phone lines in a cross-country connection through a rented device. The device may be a mobile phone or a SIM card. A SMS message is sent from the rented device to a service provider bearing the identification of the phone lines to be connected. The SMS is received by a gateway of the service provider, and the gateway subsequently places calls to the phone lines in the SMS and connects the phone lines. Each of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
As indicated above, in many cases, it is more expensive to make telephone calls using a cellular phone than to make the same call over a conventional land line. This is particularly true with respect to long distance calls, and even more particularly to international calls. In some other cases, some calls can be made without charge with a land-based line, while calls using a cellular phone may incur a charge. Thus, it is believed that there is a need and a potential commercial market for a device that will allow a cellular phone user to make calls over a land-based line.
Thus, a system and method for making outgoing calls at reduced cost solving the aforementioned problems is desired.